Rebecca Rothman is a Project Manager for the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture, a city organization devoted to creating and planning artworks for the city of Phoenix. Rothman coordinates between city planners and artist to help develop public art in Phoenix, including an upcoming call for artists to create work in coordination with the Solid Waste Management Facility on 27th Ave. We talked about public art coordination, how visualizing our trash helps us understand consumption, and how the arts can help with this dialogue.

TAB: You’re a project manager for the Phoenix office of arts and culture. First, can you describe some of the things that the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture does for the Valley?

Rothman: The Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture does many things. We have an arts learning focused on Arts Education, outreach, and programming throughout the Valley. We have a Grants Program for small and large organizations including performing arts, visual arts - anyone from the minors to the majors - the newbies to the symphony. We oversee all the cultural facilities in the City as well. The area that I’m involved with is Public Art. Our team looks at the built environment and works with artists to create landmarks throughout the City. The city has a 1 percent for art ordinance, meaning that one percent of all capital improvements has to go towards the arts. In Public Art we work with different departments throughout the city to see what’s coming up, what they’re working on, and how art may be infused into the project. That includes streets, the airport, water services, transit, and public works amongst others. We’re part of the City Manager’s office and operate as a function within that department.

TAB: You talked a little about this before, but what are some of your responsibilities as Project Manager? How do you fit in?

Rothman: As a public art project manager, I, along with the other members of the Public Art staff, join the design team and the management team, really anyone involved with the project at its inception, as well as the planners and architects and start talking about where the opportunities for the artists to be involved. We then propose where we think the best fit would be. Once that’s decided, we put together a RFQ or RFP, qualifications versus proposals, then we solicit artists to apply for the project. Once the artist is selected, my role is to work with that artist from day one to the close out. I am the “go-to” person for the artist throughout the entire commission process. So I’m the person who oversees their contract, helps them through the design process, helps them through the construction or fabrication process, makes sure that the artist is getting what they need from the design team and helps with the marketing and outreach. The project manager is also the face of all community involvement – it’s important to make sure the community is aware of what’s happening in their neighborhood and knows what’s happening in their city. I like to think of the role of Public Art Manager as the in between. We have to speak a lot of different languages and make sure that everyone is understanding each other throughout the process.

TAB: You have a residency that’s open that you are trying to get artists excited about. Can you talk about the specifics of the residency at the Waste Management Facility. Could you talk about what the intention of the residency is?

Rothman: The Solid Waste Management Facility on 27th Ave is an older facility, built in the early 90’s, designed through our art program in partnership with the Public Works department by artists Michael Singer and Linnea Glatt, and it was the first of its type in the country that really opened up the waste management process to the public and invited people to come in and see it.

That thinking has been used as a model for our Public Works department, they’re very forward thinking and interested in having the community and residents understand what happens when you put stuff in a blue bin or a green bin, so as a result, we’ve worked with them for several years to further that message. The residency came about because currently they’re working on adding a composting facility as well as another innovative space to the 27th ave facility. When we started talking about how art can become a part of that process, we realized that by having artists not just create work for the site, but create work that could be part of the conversation surrounding sustainability and the environment, we could have artists help raise more awareness to the mission of the facility. The residency is a pilot, it’s the first time we’re doing something like this. There is not an artist studio onsite, although there is a storage facility space onsite for selected artists to use during the process.

Essentially we are commissioning artists to make work out of discarded materials found at the site And will commission up to three artists to scavenge through, find what they need, bring it to their studios, and make work out of stuff found at the site. As part of the term residency, we’re asking the artists to also take part in some of the Public Works educational and outreach tours, to add another layer to that conversation.

TAB: So there’s a stipend involved? What are some of the logistics?

Rothman: We’re looking for up to three artists, each artist would receive a commission of $15,000 to create a body of work made from materials found at the site, and we’re open, it could be glass, cardboard, steel, wood, you name it, whatever you find in the pile, make it. That fifteen thousand dollars should cover all costs, including taxes, insurance, all that good stuff, as well as any extra materials that are needed to make the work. The residency requirements are ten hours a week, and with that ten hours we’re thinking that includes the time that the artist would be in their studio working actively on this project as well as time on site looking for materials and connecting with the staff and visitors at the facility. It should take place over a four month period, and when the work is completed we will be exhibiting the work, and we will be working with the selected artists on those details. The work created would become part of the city’s collection at the end, at least in part. And depending on the size and scale of the work, it would be exhibited in City Hall Gallery or other sites around the Valley that would relate back to the 27th Ave facility.

With the call for art, and the request for qualifications, it is a municipal solicitation, and those are filled with a lot of information that is overwhelming. I believe it’s like fifteen pages. I would encourage artists to not be intimidated by that, and if they have any questions to call our office directly, we’re happy to talk with artists all the time, we’re an open door, and we love working in the arts.

Give us your best work - show that you have a vision and good craftsmanship, and that you think outside the drawn lines. We facilitate the selection process and will ask the panel to look at how an artist thinks and not worry about whether they’ve worked in public art before or about whether they work with found objects or salvaged materials in their past examples. Just show the panel your best work and know that visuals really do matter quite a bit.

TAB: Anything specific about mediums or output that is involved? I know that with some calls that have gone out through the city, they are sculptural public projects. Is it open to two dimensional work as well as three dimensional work? Is it open to a gallery or does it have to be outside? Because I think there’s a worry that “oh, I do 2D work, so I can’t do Public Art Work”.

Rothman: That is not a concern of ours at all. We leave that up to the artist to decide. In this case, for 27th Ave, we’re looking for artists that make stuff out of stuff. So if a 2D artist wants to make quilts out of paper, knock yourself out. Far be it for me to tell an artist what they can or can’t do. Does it matter if it’s 2D or 3D? No, does it matter whether it’s functional or fine art? Not really. We’re open, we just want really good artwork.

TAB: Why do you feel that it’s important to have an artist in residency at a Waste Management Facility? It seems like a bit of an odd idea, but to some people, but there’s a history of this in the arts, right?

Rothman: Yes, there are many residencies similar to this around the country. There’s one called ReCology in San Francisco, there’s Rair in Philadelphia. The difference is that the other residencies are posted by nonprofits or private entities whereas this is a municipal residency. We have all heard the conversation regarding sustainability and we all know that it’s good to put something in the blue can, right? Do you really know what happens once it leaves your kitchen and goes to the blue can?

TAB: It goes away, wherever away is.

Rothman: Right! Artist are inquisitive, like scientists, and we want to dig into this information. The benefit on working with an artist on a project like this is that artists have a different way of thinking and a different way of communicating that can reach a broader audience. Our Public Works team are phenomenal, they’re doing a great job, but also, anything they can do to get that message across to the broader public, we feel we should do, and we feel like artists can add another layer to that communication, both visually and in terms of the conversation itself.

TAB: How do you think that this particular project fits into the goals of the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture specifically?

Rothman: Our goal is to enhance the Valley through the arts. This enhances the Valley through the arts, of course, by creating art for the municipal collection for everyone to enjoy, but also it’s a professional opportunity for artists in the valley. It gives our artists the chance to work as professionals, and not in isolation in the studio or in an academic situation, but to work with a client, that client being the city in this case, in creating artwork for a much larger audience.